Aromatic polymers containing ketone linkages are known to the art and are said to be useful for preparing tough, resistant films. A British Pat. No. 971,227, describes an aromatic polymer made by the self-condensation of 4-phenoxybenzoyl chloride in the presence of aluminum chloride and methylene chloride. Other British patents describing polyketones and methods of making them are Br. No. 1,016,245, in which a copolymer containing both sulfone and ketone linkages is produced by reacting 4-phenoxybenzoyl chloride and 4-phenoxybenzenesulphonyl chloride; Br. No. 1,177,183 describes the self-condensation of the potassium salt of 4-(4-fluorobenzoyl)phenol in 1,1-dioxothiolan (sulfolan) and Br. No. 1,153,527 describes copolymers containing sulfone and ketone linkages made by condensing the alkali metal salts of 4-(4-halobenzoyl)phenol and 4-(4-halophenylsulphonyl)phenol. The self-condensation of bis[4'-(4-chlorobenzoyl)biphenylyl]carbonate is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,583. All of the above polymers contain ether linkages between the aromatic rings in addition to the ketone and sulfone links. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,147 polyketones containing 1,4-phenylene, ether and ketone linkages (optionally 4,4'-biphenylene, terphenylene or sulphone linkages) are made by reacting a monomer mixture of a di(alkali metal)salt of a bisphenol containing ketone linkages between the aromatic groups and a dihalo aromatic compound having the same linkages. Tough films are said to be formed by compression molding the polymers.
Polymers containing the linkages indicated above are discussed in journal articles. One entitled "Polyaromatic Ether-Ketones from o,o'-Disubstituted Diphenyl Ethers" by J. Lee and C. S. Marvel is found in J. Polym. Science: Polymer Chemistry Edition, Vol. 21, 2189-2195 (1983). Another, describing the properties and uses of such polymers is found in Chemical Engineering Progress, January, 1985, pp. 36-38.
Polyketones are made by the process of this invention by reacting a bis(trichloracetyl)aromatic compound with a bis(acyl)aromatic compound to form a polyketone. The polyketones made in this way are poly-.beta.-diketones, polymers not heretofore made, and, thus, new compounds. No reference to such polymers has been found in the literature.